EgyptAir is set to break a 20-year embargo on Egyptian flights to Iraq within the next few months, company officials have announced.
The airline aims to run daily transits to Iraqi ports.
CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company, Hussein Massoud, said aviation authorities from both nations have concluded negotiations. Massoud confirmed efforts are also underway for another flight schedule between Cairo and the northern Iraqi province of Erbil.
EgyptAir's fleet will be increased to 73, according to Massoud, after which new flights will be launched between Egypt and Zambia on 16 January with four flights per week. Flights between Cairo and Abidjan, Ivory Coast will commence in March, as well as two additional flights to Washington and Toronto.
Following the second Gulf War in 1991, the UN imposed an aviation embargo on large parts of Iraqi airspace, following proposals submitted by US, UK and French delegations. The embargo was lifted at the start of the US invasion in 2003.
